Libya restarts largest domestic refinery after war closure

9/4/2012

By BENOIT FAUCON

LONDON -- Libyas largest refinery has restarted production after being shut down last year, the last major oil facility to resume normal operations in the country following the civil war and paving the way for the resumption of fuel oil exports.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Nuri Berruien, head of Libya's National Oil Co., said the 220,000 bpd Ras Lanuf refinery in Eastern Libya has restarted production...in the past four days.

But it isn't at full capacity, he said.

The facility, a key exporter of fuel oil to European markets and which made up over half of Libya's refining output before the war, was shut during the conflict that toppled Col. Moammar Gadhafi last year.

It had remained closed because of war damage and insufficient feedstock from the fields that supply it.

But following repairs and a resumption of production that has surprised many observers, it has now been able to return to normal.

Libya's crude oil production reached 1.6 million bpd Sunday, Mr. Berruien said, which he said was just under its pre-war level of about 1.7 million bpd.